Export Commodity By Irving Cox Jr. Episode #12

Irving Cox Jr. | April 12, 2022

Export Commodity By Irving Cox Jr. Episode #12
Irving Cox Jr.

EXPORT COMMODITY

Episode #12 · Written by Irving Cox Jr. · Narrated by Scott Miller

The assignment is technical and impersonal: confirm whether a distant planet contains a resource worth claiming. The officer selected for the task is expected to observe, collect a sample, and vanish without ever being noticed. His confidence rests on machines that claim to understand the world better than he ever could.

That confidence erodes quickly. The planet’s inhabitants react unpredictably, violence erupts without warning, and the officer is forced to confront situations the computers never accounted for. Each encounter challenges the belief that intelligence and progress can be reduced to data alone.

As danger intensifies and the survey nears completion, the mission becomes a private reckoning. The officer must decide whether accuracy is more important than restraint, and whether a flawless report is worth the irreversible damage it could cause.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Irving Cox Jr. was a prolific contributor to mid-century science fiction magazines, with stories appearing in publications such as Galaxy Science Fiction and Fantastic. His work often placed institutional thinking under pressure, using individual characters to expose the blind spots of systems that prized efficiency over judgment.

Export Commodity reflects Cox’s recurring interest in decision-making at the edge of authority. Rather than focusing on technology itself, he examined how rigid logic fails when confronted with lived behavior, making this story one of his most enduring and unsettling pieces.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to Export Commodity By Irving Cox Jr. — a vintage science fiction story where a survey mission tests logic, loyalty, and a world’s right to remain untouched.

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The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked the #1 Science Fiction Podcast in 34 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.7 million listens.

Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.

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